William Longsword to strike

There was a lot of talk for William Longsword before the running of the Grade 2 Selangor Cup over 1600m but although in contention turning for home, the son of Captain Al was rather one-paced and ended up finishing sixth, 4.90 lengths behind Gold Standard.

Prior to that Vaughan Marshall’s charge had notched up three consecutive wins after running third on debut. He clearly has talent and will no doubt enjoy this drop in class when he runs in Race 6 at Kenilworth on Wednesday, a MR 88 Handicap over 1600m.

His last start in the Selangor was his second after a layoff and that could have seen him go a little flat. There are two major differences between this and his last run.

The Selangor was race on the Old Course with the shorter run-in while they have finally moved to the New Course with the longer home straight. Secondly, William Longsword will be raced with a tongue tie. There are no reports of any breathing issues but that does not necessarily mean he is not having any.

MJ Byleveld takes the ride and they are well drawn at No 3.

Newlands is only a one-time winner but has run some decent races. One has to excuse his last start in the Lanzerac Ready To Run Stakes over 1400m as he was drawn No 14 of 16 runners and never got into the race. In the Grade 3 Langerman he finished a 1.35-length third behind Our Table Mountain and a repeat of that kind of form could be good enough to win this event.

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